All right, I've had some fairly intense discussions with friends and acquaintances on this subject, and a post recently got me to thinking about recent events concerning the wearing of pro-team jerseys while cycling when in fact you are not a member of even the local bike club, let alone Once, Fassa Bortolo, Telekom, or USPostal...
I myself have several Pro jerseys including USPostal, 7up, Navigators and Saturn. Three of them were given to me by my wife as a present at one time and I bought the Saturn jersey for myself.
I almost always ride by myself, being still a complete novice at road cycling. and normally I would typically wear plain black or blue cycling shorts and a plain white t-shirt or a beige cycling jersey I used for mountain biking for years.
But on occasion I would don one of the pro jerseys for a ride. Until a few days ago, I never garnered the attention of anyone (What would say, a Saturn rider be doing in my no name neck of the woods? If I could even be mistaken as a pro rider in the first place!)
I wear the jerseys not to impress anyone else, I know people who are familiar with cycling will just shrug it off, and those who aren't will wonder something along the lines of "When did US mailmen start riding bikes instead of driving those little vans?"
Wearing the jersey is a visceral experience for me. Something that lends a strong feeling of connection to my newfound enthusiasm for the sport, and a tribute to the teams that I have ultimate respect for.
Friends have told me "You shouldn't wear the jerseys" and when I ask why, they reply "Because other riders will look down on you and think you're posing" At that moment in the conversation I pointed over to my friends BMW and gave him a confused look. "You mean like when you drive a very expensive car that you have to make payments on?"
My take on the whole thing is that if someone could explain to me that non-pro's did not wear pro-jerseys because it was a show of respect and honor, the same way that you didn't just pin a Medal of Honor on your chest and parade around, in that instance I could completely understand and would happily comply.
But up till now, the only reasoning I have heard is that OTHER people will ridicule me? Is that the prevalent feeling? Because if it is, then I'm wearing the jerseys ALL the time *laughing* I'm a rock bottom newbie road cyclist in a "drive your car to the corner grocery store country" how much more ridicule could get heaped on me than isn't on my shoulders already?
There seems to be alot of "don't do that because other cyclists will blah blah blah..." I refuse to believe that any group so dedicated and disciplined as serious cyclists would be so superficial... and I'm hoping that the true reasoning behind friction created by wearing a jersey you didn't earn, is a violation of the sense of honor and respect that just doesn't get communicated with the appropriate articulation when people attempt to explain.
I wear the Jerseys because they give me a sense of being a small part of a greater whole. And if a cyclist who looked down on me for doing so would blast by me on the road to embarass me or otherwise prove that I was smaller than the jersey, doesn't that speak more to their faults, then to my small indulgence?
The incident that in part prompted this new thread was on one of my normal short hill climbs I was in the USPostal Jersey and huffing my way to the top... I passed a young kid maybe about 16 or 17ish watering a lawn... He yells out at me as I pass in a very sarcastic tone "going to the Tour de France next year Lance?" I glanced over at him and replied "No, you going to the superbowl?"
He was wearing a Raiders Jerry Rice NFL jersey...
Could I have misheard his sarcasm? or was he just so dense as to not realize the level of his own hypocrisy? If not, then I would wager I had more right, huffing up that hill in pain, to wear my Jersey than he did while hosing down some grass...
...
Tell me how you feel on this subject, I genuinely would like to know... Do you not wear the Jersey's for fear of ridicule from others? or as a sign of respect, as if they were in fact something like military uniforms that should be earned...
Thanks much!
Feanor
I myself have several Pro jerseys including USPostal, 7up, Navigators and Saturn. Three of them were given to me by my wife as a present at one time and I bought the Saturn jersey for myself.
I almost always ride by myself, being still a complete novice at road cycling. and normally I would typically wear plain black or blue cycling shorts and a plain white t-shirt or a beige cycling jersey I used for mountain biking for years.
But on occasion I would don one of the pro jerseys for a ride. Until a few days ago, I never garnered the attention of anyone (What would say, a Saturn rider be doing in my no name neck of the woods? If I could even be mistaken as a pro rider in the first place!)
I wear the jerseys not to impress anyone else, I know people who are familiar with cycling will just shrug it off, and those who aren't will wonder something along the lines of "When did US mailmen start riding bikes instead of driving those little vans?"
Wearing the jersey is a visceral experience for me. Something that lends a strong feeling of connection to my newfound enthusiasm for the sport, and a tribute to the teams that I have ultimate respect for.
Friends have told me "You shouldn't wear the jerseys" and when I ask why, they reply "Because other riders will look down on you and think you're posing" At that moment in the conversation I pointed over to my friends BMW and gave him a confused look. "You mean like when you drive a very expensive car that you have to make payments on?"
My take on the whole thing is that if someone could explain to me that non-pro's did not wear pro-jerseys because it was a show of respect and honor, the same way that you didn't just pin a Medal of Honor on your chest and parade around, in that instance I could completely understand and would happily comply.
But up till now, the only reasoning I have heard is that OTHER people will ridicule me? Is that the prevalent feeling? Because if it is, then I'm wearing the jerseys ALL the time *laughing* I'm a rock bottom newbie road cyclist in a "drive your car to the corner grocery store country" how much more ridicule could get heaped on me than isn't on my shoulders already?
There seems to be alot of "don't do that because other cyclists will blah blah blah..." I refuse to believe that any group so dedicated and disciplined as serious cyclists would be so superficial... and I'm hoping that the true reasoning behind friction created by wearing a jersey you didn't earn, is a violation of the sense of honor and respect that just doesn't get communicated with the appropriate articulation when people attempt to explain.
I wear the Jerseys because they give me a sense of being a small part of a greater whole. And if a cyclist who looked down on me for doing so would blast by me on the road to embarass me or otherwise prove that I was smaller than the jersey, doesn't that speak more to their faults, then to my small indulgence?
The incident that in part prompted this new thread was on one of my normal short hill climbs I was in the USPostal Jersey and huffing my way to the top... I passed a young kid maybe about 16 or 17ish watering a lawn... He yells out at me as I pass in a very sarcastic tone "going to the Tour de France next year Lance?" I glanced over at him and replied "No, you going to the superbowl?"
He was wearing a Raiders Jerry Rice NFL jersey...
Could I have misheard his sarcasm? or was he just so dense as to not realize the level of his own hypocrisy? If not, then I would wager I had more right, huffing up that hill in pain, to wear my Jersey than he did while hosing down some grass...
...
Tell me how you feel on this subject, I genuinely would like to know... Do you not wear the Jersey's for fear of ridicule from others? or as a sign of respect, as if they were in fact something like military uniforms that should be earned...
Thanks much!
Feanor
